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So how did Romney make his huge fortune?


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2012 Sep 2, 9:01pm   51,037 views  90 comments

by American in Japan   ➕follow (1)   💰tip   ignore  

I am bringing this up, since I hear many Americans (not in Japan, though) saying how Romney is an entrepreneur who has created many jobs for Americans...

I have done just a bit of research, but I am not convinced that this is true.

This is how Romney actually made all his money (Businessinsider)

Tally of Job Creation By Bain Proves Vexing (Wall Street Journal)

Assets offshore hint at larger Romney wealth (Japantoday.com)

Election-2012/Mitt Romney--Did he-create 100 thousand jobs or kill 7 thousand (Rightwingnews.com)

Bain Capital is Romney's corporation founded in 1983. It is one of the top-leveraged buyout firms in the US.

Staples - Sevenfold return on investment for Bain Capital.

Accuride - a leveraged buyout by Bain Capital

Damon Corp.: "Under Romney, one of Bain Capital's more questionable deals was the firm's 1989 purchase of Damon, a medical testing company that ended up pleading guilty to defrauding the government and paying a $119 million fine. Although he sat on the company's board, Romney was never implicated, and Bain tripled its investment returns before selling the company in 1993. Romney personally got $473,000 from the deal, according to the Boston Globe." (Businessinsider)

Experian - a "flip" of a different kind...

DDI Corp. acquired by Bain Capital's in 2000... (A fail here as DDI later filed for bankruptcy protection and laid off 2,100 workers in 2003)

I quote: "The first indication the 100,000 jobs created number’s dodgy is that when Mitt ran against Ted Kennedy in 1994..." (Rightwingnews.com)

"$1.7 trillion was spent by Private Equity on leveraged buyouts. Private Equity companies rolled up a total of a trillion in debt making these purchases." (Alternet.org)

Politics after-mitt-romney-deal-company-showed-profits-and-then-layoffs (NY Times)

These Americans are training the Chinese workers who will replace them. (Businessinsider.com)

The sources vary along political persuasion. sources.

Note- I have no problem with people making millions, while truly creating wealth and jobs for Americans in the process.

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81   American in Japan   2013 Feb 19, 3:26pm  

So much for creating wealth..

82   MMR   2013 Feb 20, 11:01am  

FDA and it's internal report from 2007 on fulfilling it's mission: In a nutshell they can't. If anything has significantly changed in 2013, I would be happy to receive that information; having said that, I don't know that there has been any meaningful improvement in the last 6 years.

But "they" seem to do a good job of suppressing info, as even finding this juicy tidbit was a challenge.

AFAIK, the FDA is failing miserably in its stated mission

http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/dockets/AC/07/briefing/2007-4329b_02_01_FDA%20Report%20on%20Science%20and%20Technology.pdf

Nobody says

4. FDA no longer overseas the food safety killing kids and elders who are vulnerable.

83   MMR   2013 Feb 20, 11:03am  

Where was the FDA on this?.....Asian shrimp raised on pig feces....Has it stopped yet? Waiting on anyone who can shed light on this topic as I would hope to be better informed

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-11/asian-seafood-raised-on-pig-feces-approved-for-u-s-consumers.html

84   MMR   2013 Feb 20, 11:14am  

Had the misfortune of going to Emory from 1994-1998. It is a place is utterly devoid of school spirit where they were charging 8c for a pat of butter and 15c for cream cheese. This was during the Bill Chace era.

Bain is about making money and Emory makes money off the backs of people hungry for prestige. Seems like liberal democrats and republicans like that equally.

Being a country-fried republican at Emory: automatic outcast

thomaswong.1986 says

According to BuyOuts magazine and S&P Capital IQ, Bain’s other college clients have included Cornell, Emory, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Notre Dame and the University of Pittsburgh. Preqin reports that the following schools have placed at least $424.6 million with Bain Capital between 1998 and 2008:

85   MMR   2013 Feb 20, 11:16am  

They put money into their own pockets at the expense of destroying main street. I don't have good evidence on it, just observation. Home depot killed the neighborhood hardware store and staples killed the mom-and-pop office supply store. I suspect that they made money for their investors at the expense of the aggregate economy

American in Japan says

They may have made money as a benefit, but I am still not convinced that any wealth was created by Bain Capital. On principle I would have to say that I wish they had invested with another company even if it meant slighty lower gains. At least I have been reading the various links (many can't be bothered with more than short soundbites.) Someone eloquently stated that there is a difference between "entrepreneur" and "capitalist".

86   MMR   2013 Feb 20, 11:19am  

The people that support the party of the 'corporate raiders' (Usu republican) are also the type of idiots who need to demonstrate their patriotism by putting up a flag on the back of their car. Being a good citizen means generating something worthwhile and adding to the GDP, without parasitizing other areas of economy to do so. And paying fair share of taxes in the process.

Rationalizing corporate raiders: not nearly as patriotic

CaptainShuddup says

Corporate Raiders became acceptable in the 80's so the stigma that it had back then does not apply to today. Now had this been the "Good fight" for all these years, I could understand the distraction.

87   MMR   2013 Feb 20, 11:21am  

Not that I'm an Obama fan necessarily, but I love people who thought Romney was a good candidate based on having 'business experience'

marcus says

But if you're running for President, it might be nice if you have a history of personal goals other than just providing for yourself and your family (without regard for who gets harmed in the process).

88   MMR   2013 Feb 20, 11:25am  

Not sure that elite universities aren't parasitic in their quest for cash

MMR says

Had the misfortune of going to Emory from 1994-1998. It is a place is utterly devoid of school spirit where they were charging 8c for a pat of butter and 15c for cream cheese. This was during the Bill Chace era.

Bain is about making money and Emory makes money off the backs of people hungry for prestige. Seems like liberal democrats and republicans like that equally.

89   Vicente   2013 Feb 20, 3:20pm  

CaptainShuddup says

Corporate Raiders became acceptable in the 80's so the stigma that it had back then does not apply to today. Now had this been the "Good fight" for all these years, I could understand the distraction.

Lunch with Gordon Gekko? Sure. Hang out at his parties? Sure. Put him in the White House? Fuck no!

There's a difference between having a secret admiration for someone whose principles you despise, and putting a sociopath in charge of foreign policy and nuclear launch codes.

90   American in Japan   2013 Apr 2, 6:23pm  

Good insights here distinguishing rentierism from "innovative" capitaism:

How rich moochers ruin America (Salon.com)

The election is over but this problem is worse than ever.

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